By Andrew SheivachmanThe Daily Northwestern
“Serial Molester Gets Life in Prison,” announces my Nintendo Wii. And to think the only thing that used to threaten the Mushroom Kingdom was Bowser.
Last Friday, Nintendo launched its novel News Channel for the Wii. Essentially a news reading application for the console, the News Channel is an easy way to read breaking news in between bouts of Wii Sports. Nintendo partnered with the Associated Press to provide content for the application, which presents the user with a nifty slide show feature that roams a 3-D globe, showing the most exciting location-specific news items of the day.
Baghdad bombings, international scandals, and political strife are each available at a wave of the Wiimote. I suppose this is stimulating for those who rarely read the news and enjoy spinning globes. Nintendo also offers the aptly-titled Forecast Channel, which lets you check the weather conditions in your area and around the world. No longer do gamers actually have to get up and look out the window to see if it is raining.
Even more intriguing than either of these these gimmicks is the Opera-browser powered Internet Channel, which allows the Wii to surf the Internet with ease. YouTube works perfectly, even in fullscreen mode, and Flash-powered games work as well. Wiicade.com boasts a series of games designed to be played specifically on the Wii, using only the Opera browser and the Wiimote. You can also watch porn online using the Wii, but don’t tell your little brother about it.
So, Nintendo has taken a unique route in offering content on the Wii. But why? To perpetuate the gimmick effect of the system.
Only 12 games are slated to be released for the Wii in the first quarter of 2007, the majority of which are ports of games from last generation consoles or games certified to be terrible. Yes, I mean you, Bionicle Heroes. Nintendo has been releasing a steady amount of retro games through its Virtual Console service, but gamers are unlikely to re-buy all of their old favorites they have left lying in a closet somewhere.
Expect Nintendo to unveil a download service that lets you purchase new games over the Internet, but don’t expect such a service until late 2007.
Wii owners, expect to be waving your controllers in the wind.
Reach Andrew Sheivachman at [email protected].
